coffin joint DJD in an older horse any experiences?

[ester]

At the beginning of jan (having been lame since nov) frank (19yo) was diagnosed on nerve block with DJD of the coffin joint prob caused by age (he has been a busy pony most of his life, and the fact that his foot balance wasn't great). As he had shown some improvement and foot balance was looking better in bar shoes we decided to continue with that and inject HA/steroid into the joint. Post injection he looked much better, slightly short on that side but sound enough that I was happy to start doing something with him. So start walk work and gradually build up to hacking for an hour or so with some trot mostly on the verges etc. for the most part he felt pretty sound, walking much better and not tripping as he was a bit previously and was sound on a circle on a surface (we dont have anywhere suitable that is hard).

Has now been in bar shoes for 12 weeks, 7 weeks since the injection. Last week vet advised as he wasn't quite right to up the work a bit so he has done a couple of longer hacks and a couple of short canters on nice turf and he has gone lame again, not looking a whole lot better than when we first started.

Vet is coming again friday to reinject but I don't think he is that hopeful (nor am I) that it is really going to sort it, he said it does tend to be less reactive to treatment than in say a 7y, and I am going to get him to discuss other options with him if that doesn't work. Therefore I wondered if anyone had used any other treatments which have been successful that I should maybe bring up? His foot balance looks better than it was in the bar shoes and I am considering taking them off, I decided I didn't want to do that in the first instance (when we nerve blocked back of foot pre identification of the joint issue) in case any further lameness was put down to him being footsore when there was something else going on.

So just grateful for your thoughts, he doesn't look or act like a 19yo and I would expect him to have a good few years left in him if it weren't for this issue.

a gratuitous pic of him posing this week He normally only gets to wear brown but his sheepskin was rubbing now he is moulting so he has the polypad on loan

 

[*Maddy&Occhi*]

Hiya

I dont have any tips or useful advice but just a bit of moral support

I'm going through something similiar with my 14 year old mare. She's been on/of lame since I bought her this time last year and we suspect it started a few years before too...but old owners were obvs never going to admit that

Anyway took her down to the clinic on friday, had nerve blocks, xrays, ultrasound and now were having to send her for an MRI to determin the problem, our vet is extremely worried

Hope everything goes well for you, its heart-breaking isnt it chin up everything happens for a reason

 

[Zuzzie]

Hello, sorry to hear about your pony. I have a wealth of experience with this. My danish warmblood (16hh) was diagnosed a couple of years ago. Like you, we tried steroid injections into the joint. These worked really well but as time went on they became increasingly less effective and pointless. I gave up competing (he was working advanced medium dressage at home). Eventually, we went through every type of treatment except IRAP. I'm sorry to say that nothing worked. I did'nt try IRAP because it's really really expensive and seems to be more effective in early diagnosis. In the end I found that one bute a day was the only effective way of keeping him sound. However, one day I became quite alarmed at how lame he was when I had to stop giving the bute due to him having a tummy upset. The bute had been masking quite a lot so I talked to my vet and he recommended a Neurectmy (de-nerving). I had this done and despite a lot of misgivings was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how well he responded. Unfortunately, however, the arthritis has now spread to the pastern joint so we are back on one bute a day but we are still hacking out quite happily. I was not insured so it has cost me thousands. If I'd known what I know now I would not have bothered embarking on costly treatments which proved to be a waste of time and money - I would just have kept him on the bute. There is no cure for DJD and it will probably get worse. Try some bute but remember it takes at least a week or more to build up in the system so any improvement will not be obvious at the start. Good luck.

 

[ester]

thank you both for your replies. Maddy&occhi I'm probably lucky then, I have had a fab last 7 years with him. Zuzzie thankfully frank was still fully insured so we can at least spend that trying to get him right which takes that pressure off a bit. I was hoping when he had to slow down that I could give him a life of dressage and hacking (we had done a couple of BD elems before he went lame). We will see what occurs as of Friday, he hasn't had any bute for it in the meantime but I will query that with the vet longer term.

 

[katherine1975]

My 15 year old cob was diagnosed with DJD of coffin joint and pasterns last year. She had steroid injections but they didn't really work. She has been on one bute a day and has been hacking and hunted twice this season (no jumping). Unfortunately she has recently become lame again so we are going to have the vet out again.

Zuzzie - my horse is not insured and I was interested to read your post that even if I paid for lots of expensive treatment it probably won't help her much.

 

[Zuzzie]

Yes, very disappointing to spend so much money for no result. At least we tried but, as I said, I wouldn't do it again given the same circumstances.

I think the key to managing arthritis is to keep your horse moving - gentle exercise everyday will keep the joints more mobile.